The Hope pioneer., 1887-10-21
LINCOLN At eETTYseuRe.
interesting Historical Facts Regarding q
Now Famous Grafton.


interesting Historical Facts Regarding
Now Famous Grafton.
A day or two before the dedication
Of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg
Mr.. Lincoln told me that he would be
expected to make a speech on the occa-
sion; that he was extremely busy, with
no time for preparation, and that he
greatly feared he would not be able to
acquit himself with credit, much less
to tlll the measure of public expecta-
ton. From his hat (the usual recepta-
Gle OF his private notes and me,noran-
oa) he drew a page of foolscap, closely
written, which he read to me, first re-
marking that it was q memorandum Of
what he intended to say. 1t proved to
be, in substance. and, 1 think, in hgc
0erba, what was printed rs his Gettys-
burg speech.
After its delivery he expressed deep
regret that he had not prepared it with
greater care. He said to me on the
stand Immediately after concluding the
speech: "Lamon, that speech won't
soar! 1t is q flat failure, and the peo-
Pile are disappointed" He seemed more
than ordinarily concerned about what
the people would think of it. I was
deeply Impressed by his frank and re-
gretful condemnation of the effort. and
especially by his manner of expressing
that regret, and my own impression
was deepcned by the fact that the ora
tor of the day, Mr.. Everett, and Mr..
Seward both coincided with Mr.. Lincoln
in his unfavorable view of its merits.
The occasion was solemn, impressive
and grandly historic. Thepcople stood
spell-bound, it is true. The vast throng
was hushcd and awed into profound
silence while Mr.. Lincoln read his brief
address; but it seemed that this silence
and attention to his words arose more
from the solemnity of the ceremonies
and the awful scenes which gave occa-
sion to them than from any thing the
President said.
On the platform from which Mr.. Lin
coin made his address, and only mo-
ment after its conclusion, Mr.. Seward
turned to.Mr. Everett and asked him
what he thought of tho Presidents
speech. Mr.. Everett replied: "It was
not what expected of him; I am dis
appointed.
In his turn Mr., Everett asked: "What
do you think of it, MI. Seward?" The
response was: "He has made failure,
and am sorry for it; his speech is not
equal to him. Mr.. Seward then
turned to me and asked: "Mr. Marshal,
what do you think of itp'' II am
sorry to say that does not impress me
as one of his great speeches"
In the face of these facts it has been
repeatedly published that this speech
was received with great eclat by the
audience; that amid the tears, sobs and
cheers it produced in the excited
throng, the orator of the day, Mr..
Everett, turned impulsivcly to Mr. Lin
coin, grasped his hand and exclaimed:
Il congratulate you on your success"'
adding, in n transport of enthusiasm:
"Ah! Mr. President, how gladly would
give all my hundred pages to be the
author of your twenty lines!''
All this unworthy gush, it is needless
to say, is purely apocryphal. Nothing
OF the kind occurred. 1t is an after
thought-mere rhetorical bombast, got
ten up to serve the purpose of baseless
adulation. 1t is u slander on Mr.. Ev-
crett, an injustice to Mr.. Lincoln and a
Justification Of history. Mr.. Everett
could not have used tho words attribu-
ted to him, in the face of his openly ex-
pressed condemnation of Mr.. Lincoln's
speech, without subjccLing himself to
the just charge of being u toady and
hypocritc, and he was, neither the one
nor the other.
AS q matter of fact, Mr.. Lincoln's
great Gettysburg speech fell on tic vast
audience like wet blanket. At that
time his reputation was confessedly on
the wane. The politicians of the coun-
try-those of his own party. together
with large part of the press-were
casting about for an available candi-
date to be his successor, while a great
majority of people were for him.
state il as n fact and without fear of
contradiction that this famous Gettys-
burg speech was not received OF COM
mcnted upon with any thing like hearty
favor by the people, the politicians, or
the press of the United States until after
the death Of it author. Its marvellous
perfection and its intrinsic excellence
rs masterpiece of English compost
tion seemed to have escaped the
scrutiny of the most scholarly critics
and the wisest heads of that day on this
side of the Atlantic. That discovery
was made, we must regretfully see, by
distinguished writer's on the other side
The London Spectator, the Saturday
Revicw, the Edinburg Review and other
English journals were the first to dis
cover, or at least to proclaim, the
classical merits of the Gettysburg
speech.
1t was then that we began to realize
that it was indeed a masterpiece. and
it then dawned upon many minds that
we had entertained an angel unawarcs
who had left us unappreciated. Ward
Lamon, in Indianapolis News.